Improvement in the art of manufacturing artificial-stone coffins



T. E. DANIELS. ART OF MANUFACTURING ARTIFICIALSTONE CQFFINS No. 177,101.

Patented May9,187'6'.

w'i 'i'nesqse:

N- PET ERS, PHOT U T ESTATEE PATENT orrrcn.

TAYLOR DANIELS, OF, DETROIT, MIOHIGAN.

IMPROVEME'N-TlN IIHEAR-T OF MANUFACTURING A-RTlFlC-IAL-STONE COFI I'NS.

Speoification formingpartof Letters Patent No. 17 75-101, dated May 9,1876; application filed July 16, 1875.

. "To *all "wh'om it' mag concern ='Be :it known that LTAYLOR D'A'NrELs,of Detroit, inithe county of Wayneand State of Michigan,'haveinvented-certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Manufac-'=turing Artificial btone Oofli11s, of which the :followingisaspecification:

My invention consists in an improved meth-.

0d of forming thin artificial-stone cofiins, to'

takeLtheiplace of the wooden and metal ones now in general use; and itconsists'incasting the'coffin'in an inverted position, in a mold havinga fixed core and 'removableuside-walls, "ashereinafter fully'explained.Many attempts have hitherto been made to devise a practical mode offorming :artificial-stone coffins or burial-eases; but, owing to thepeculiar-nature of the material to be=dealtfwith andthe peculiarrequirements of "the'casepall such attempts have resulted in failure,and consequently artificial-stone coffins are not to be found in themarket, although, when properly made, they possess many and decidedadvantages over those of wood and metal. My cases are intended andadapted to takethe place of the usual coffins or cases, and not merelyas a case to inclose the same, and hence, in their manufacture, severalrequirements must be fulfilled: the case must be smooth and regularinside and out; the walls must be thin,'in order to render the coffinlight, but at the same time of a uniform thickness, so that the coffinwill have no weak points; the corners, angles, and edges must be sharp,clean, and true; provision must be made for paneling, molding, orotherwise ornamenting the exterior of the coffin; provision must be madefor the introduction of a skeleton metal frame into the walls when theyare being formed, to give them the requisite strength when made verythin; provision must also be made for the application of a trimming oredging to the upper edges of the.

walls, for the purpose of giving the same a finish and affording a meansof securing the lining material in place; and, finally, provision mustbe made for removing the outside walls of the mold and exposing thesoft, damp coffin to the air without danger of fracturing or marring itin so doing. Two methods of forming the coffins have been tried and.set.

without succ'essone in which the :material was -plastered by hand upon*the inside -of a mold, and another in which the'coffins were mist-inan-npright position in a mold, in which they necessarily remained untilwell hardened The first plan was slow/laborious, andexpensive, resultedin the production of crude and:imperfect coffins, and didniot permittheapplication of the frame 'or the edgin g. The-second =plan required theuse ofthe mold'for a great -length oftime,and :necess'itatedthe-employment of many moldsin order to producethe coffins rapidly;itfailed to produce sharp angles andcorners; it often left flawsinthe-walls, and it did not :permit the accurate'adjustment of: either thestrengthening-frame -or the edging. After long and tedious experiments,-I have-found'that I can -='overcome allthe'evils above-enumerated, and

produce the coffins cheaply and in such form as to answer allrequirements, by casting them in an inverted position, bottom upward, ina mold having a fixed core corresponding with the interior of therequired coffin, and outside walls which are removable, as representedin the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan viewof my mold complete and ready for use; Fig. 2, a plan View of the samewith one side loosened and thrown back; Fig. 3, a longitudinal ver- Itical section of the same.

It will be seen that the mold has a base or distance equal to thethickness of the coffin-- bottom. The end walls 0 are set in grooves inthe side-walls, which latter are held up in place by transverse rods 0,seated in notches in the sides, and provided on their ends with nuts fortightening them up, as clearly shown in the drawing. The walls areprovided on their inner faces with panels, beading, molding, or otherequivalents, for giving the required ornamentation to the exterior ofthe coffin.

When the mold is to be filled, the walls are secured firmly and tightlyupon the base by screws or other devices which will admit of their beingreadily released when desired. After the mold is properly adjusted, thema terial is filled into the space around the core and on top of thesame, packed or settled down, so as to fill all the corners and angles,and then leveled off flush with the top of the walls. As soon as thematerial has set or hardened sufficiently to permit it, the rods arereleased and the walls of the mold removed, and the exterior of thecoffin therebyexposed to the air, by which it will be caused to hardenvery rapidly.-

As the coffin-wallsilean inward upon and are sustained by the core, thewalls of the mold can be removed very soon after the material is casttherein. This early removal of the walls is attended with twoadvantagesfirst,,that it permits the coffin to be hardened and finishedquickly, and, second, that it per:

mits the mold-walls, which, with their ornamentations, are quiteexpensive, to be used in a connection with different cores quitefrequently, thus saving the expense of extra walls,

which would otherwisebe required to do the same amount of work.

When the coffin is to be provided with the edging around the top of itswalls, the edging ,is placed in the bottom of the empty mold between thecore and the walls, which hold it securely and accurately in place, andinsure a smooth, flush finish where it joins the cofiin such finish,strength, and lightness as to render their manufacture both practicableand profitable in competition with those made of wood and iron.

I am aware that sectional molds are old, and, also, that it is old tocastarticles in various positions; but, so far as I know, no one hashitherto produced an artificial-stone coffin in the manner abovedescribed, and by extensive practical use I have demonstrated my methodto be far preferable to all others, ard to be a great improvement in theart to which it appertains.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is a As an improvementin the art of manufacturing artificiahstone coflins, casting them in aninverted position in a sectional mold, substantially as described andshown.

TAYLOR E. DANIELS.

Witnesses: l a

EDWIN J. MCLAIN, HARRY O. BIRCH.

